


another turn about the room

by zenelly



Series: Smooch-tober 2018 [23]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, ballroom dancing au, but like the most mild version of that ever, smoochtober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:25:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenelly/pseuds/zenelly
Summary: For Smoochtober day 23 - a "melt into you" kiss“I am not doing this,” Zexion says.





	another turn about the room

**Author's Note:**

> i'm very tired and i have a halloween party to get to, so byyeee,

“I am not doing this,” Zexion says. The building, a large pale thing with a sign that reads “Lotus Dance Studios” hanging on the front, looms over them, speaking otherwise because clearly he’s here and he _is_ doing this.

“Yes you are.” Roxas ignores the put-out look Zexion gives him because Roxas is a traitor and fell in love and promptly lost all control of his senses. He _used_ to be reasonable. Zexion sorely misses those days. “And you’re going to do this because I’m asking you to. I’m here too, you know.”

Zexion scoffs and eyes the doorway to his doom, a slightly off-plumb door with the white paint peeling a little around the edges. He does _not_ want to go in there. He wants to go home. Carefully, Zexion flexes his arm, but it’s still no good; Roxas’s grip on his elbow does not relent even for a moment. “Well of course you are. It’s _your_ wedding. You learning how to dance makes logical sense. I just don’t see why you’re blackmailing me into learning too.”

With a sigh, Roxas clearly decides that he’s had enough of Zexion’s stalling and starts hauling him to the door. “Asking you politely is hardly blackmail. And besides, you’re the only part of my wedding part that doesn’t already know how to dance.”

Sputtering, Zexion makes one last desperate attempt to reclaim his free afternoon even as Roxas shoulders open the door and drags him inside the relative cool of an air conditioned dance studio. Axel is already waiting inside, standing beside a tall blond man, and smiles when he spots Roxas, waving at the two of them. “Sora does _not_ know how to dance. Why didn’t you bring him?”

“Sora has been taking swing dance lessons since he was five and started learning competitive waltz the moment Axel and I started dating.” Roxas shoots Zexion a smile full of vitriol and the smug satisfaction of a known win. “Try again.”

Petulantly, Zexion ducks his head to hide behind his hair, blowing the strands away from his mouth. “Fuck.”

“Get over it.” Heartless as always, Roxas pushes Zexion towards the center of the room, where Axel waits, amused dancing clearly in his eyes.

Axel passes Roxas a folded green bill without saying a word. Zexion hates these people. As soon as he’s able, he’s going to _leave_ and _never speak to them again_. See how they like that when they come begging for ideas for gifts and season passes into the local museum scene. They’ll have to pay for their _own_ instead of skirting in on Zexion and Vexen’s coattails.

Zexion sneers at them. “You’re both impossible.”

“Hopefully not impossible to teach!” comes a chipper voice, and for the first time, Zexion spares more than just a quick glance at the blond man standing beside Axel. The stranger has a wide, smiling mouth, and his bright eyes crinkle with the force of his grin. The faint hint of a pink tongue darts out to wet his lips and Zexion pulls his gaze up from where it is inexplicably caught on his mouth to meet his eyes again. The man’s smile widens just a touch. “That’d make my job harder.”

“It’s already gonna be hard enough, isn’t it, Dem? It is us, after all, and I know Zexion isn’t the most coordinated.”

“I am perfectly well coordinated.” Zexion pauses, looks up at their instructor before finding something in the corner of the room to stare at. Potted plants. Interesting decoration choice. “I just… don’t have a good sense of rhythm.”

Demyx, as he is introduced, tells him not to worry! Plenty of people are, after all, complete novices when they come to him, and he is well-equipped to handle teaching all kinds of people how to not step on their partner’s feet and maybe even look like they’re doing something deliberately while they manage. It’s clearly intended to be a joke. Zexion, busy watching the way Demyx’s mouth dips lopsidedly while he grins, does not laugh.

This does not appear to dissuade Demyx in the slightest.

The problem comes when Demyx is done with his introduction and has set Roxas and Axel to standing properly, adjusting the placement of their hands here and there. Because that’s the point where Demyx smiles brightly at Zexion and invades his personal space, grabbing his hand and sliding his own right beneath Zexion’s shoulder blade, and Zexion, startled, inhales sharply. He even has the audacity to smell good, the sharp scent of saltwater and something that’s almost like sunscreen but isn’t.

“Don’t you have an assistant or something? For this?” Zexion asks, hands jittering as he attempts to put them on Demyx without actually touching him.

“Nah. Besides, you have to learn too! I figured I can just step in and help you there too.” A frown crosses Demyx’s ridiculously expressive face. “Or, less “Step in” and more “just go ahead and teach you.”

“Bad plan, Dem,” Axel says. The height difference between him and Roxas has never been so comical as it is in this moment, with Roxas’s head barely cresting the top of Axel’s shoulder and his shoulders held awkwardly high.

“Well it’s not like this is a swim class, Axel. I can’t just strap floaties to him and let him figure it out on his own.”

“Please tell me that’s not how you teach children,” Zexion says, a little faint.

Demyx whips his head back towards Zexion, his mouth dropping open. Then, clearly still shocked, he babbles, “No, no, of course not! That’s! First off, I only teach swimming in the summer, and I generally handle the older kids who aren’t in immediate danger of drowning, and this really probably isn’t helping so I’m gonna just.” And he mimes zipping his mouth shut.

_“Oh god_ ,” Zexion thinks with no small amount of horror. There’s definitely some horror there, beneath the warm swell of amusement and something leaning dangerously close to fondness. _“He’s an idiot._ ”

An idiot with his arms around Zexion, and that’s. Distracting for reasons Zexion chooses not to explore at this particular juncture. For once in his life, Axel does something useful and interrupts Zexion’s train of thought. “Hey unzip there for a second, will you? You have some gross soon-to-be-newlyweds to teach.”

Roxas wrinkles his nose. “Yuck. Don’t call us that again.”

The actual lesson isn’t that bad. Zexion is stiff until he isn’t, Demyx’s jokes and Axel’s clumsiness coupled with Roxas’s sardonic tongue help the last of the tension run out of his body, and Zexion finds himself almost smiling at some of the things Demyx squawks despite himself. The rhythm comes easier once Zexion finds the pattern. He might never be a professional, loose the way Demyx is, like his body is on strings, but he won’t completely embarrass himself at their wedding either.

Time goes by… quickly, to Zexion’s surprise. It feels like it hasn’t been two hours when Axel finally drops his arms, rubbing his shoulders as he takes a step back.

“Alright, I think that’ll do it for us,” Axel says with a huff. “Got somewhere we can change, Demyx?”

Gesturing to the back, Demyx watches as Axel and Roxas grab their bags and go to change out of their sweaty clothes, but Zexion can’t help but notice that he doesn’t let him go. His hand is still warm beneath Zexion’s shoulder blade.

His seafoam green eyes dart down to Zexion’s and he smiles, wide and lopsided. “So I’ve been having a great time with this.”

“As have I, surprisingly,” Zexion says. Demyx’s nose brushes his own, and Zexion’s breath tangles in his chest.

“Tell me if I’m reading this wrong,” Demyx whispers, and Zexion doesn’t answer him except to lean up, closing the gap between their lips.

It’s- easy. Easier than he’s ever hoped something like this could be. Demyx is a careful kisser, or is at first at least, taking his time to learn how Zexion likes it best and going enthusiastically when Zexion likes the set of teeth on his lower lip. Zexion leans against Demyx, bowin up until the kiss as he winds his arms around Demyx’s shoulders.

They break apart just before the door opens. Zexion pulls away to catch his breath, grateful that Demyx lets him go without a fuss. He holds up his hand to his mouth and wonders if he’s just imagining the faint scent of saltwater and something clean. There’s a whirlwind of motion as Axel and Roxas bundle their clothes off to the car and say goodbye to Demyx, and when it comes to his turn, Zexion presses a folded piece of paper into Demyx’s palm with a faint smile.

“You should call me sometime,” Zexion says. “I feel like I don’t have a date to a wedding and I may be in need of a plus one.”

Demyx grins. “Sounds good to me.”


End file.
